I solve throat and voice problems from the viewpoint of a kineticist.

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Monthly Archives: December 2016

A commonly taught exercise in voice training which almost all students always do (as a warm up) before singing is to vocalize “La la la, la la la, la la laaaaa” with the piano accompaniment being low-pitch and progressing to high pitch gradually.
For example, C,D,E,F,G,F,E,D,C and then,C#,D#,F,F#,G#,F#,F,D#,C# or D,E,F#,G,A,G,F#,E,D.
The vocalization exercise ends after it gets much harder from the original start. As the voice becomes higher-pitched, the ending is either when the individual cannot let out their voice anymore or when the sound will be off pitch. The excessive hardening of the throat muscles at the end of the exercise is not good.
This exercise is a trap, a bad trick which almost everyone has done (as a warm up), whether in school during music class or with a professional instructor/vocal coach. I believe this vocal exercise does not work and has negative effects on vocalization.
This vocal training aims to (1) Warm up the voice (2)Verify the correct pitch and progression
The reason I don’t endorse this exercise is because when beginner vocal students do this vocal training, their musculus extrinsic laryngis hardens and interferes with ‘the performance of motion’ for their voice.
When you try to let out too high-pitched of a voice, you are straining to harden muscles relating to vocalization which causes the larynx to become positioned deep in throat (LDP).
The harder you push and try to let out a high-pitched voice, the harder your throat gets too. This excessive hardening, pushing, and straining makes it difficult to sing a song easily and smooth.
There are some people who can do excessive training, those people are (1)people who have soft muscles relating to vocalization (2)those who are used to it (3)professional singers warm up exercise in vocalization training.
I’ve investigated, if the muscle hardness is more than 45Tone, this training will interfere with your vocalization.
Usually, 7 or 8 people out of 10 have muscle hardness more than 30Tone. You will degrade the performance of your throat by doing the above mentioned vocal training.

Note1:The hardness of the larynx is measured and categorized by me using the following guide:
Elite voice user is 10 or 20Tone, an average person is less than 30Tone. People who have hard muscles surrounding their throat is in the range between 30 or 80Tone. A clicking sound appears in the throat after 40 or 50Tone. Be mindful if you have a clicing sound in your throat, you should not do this vocal training.

Note2:A student asked me, “I always do this vocal training progression which exercises and displays a very high-pitched voice. Afterwards I always feel my throat had become stiff. I was instructed to do this training before practicing or performing by my vocal coach. What should I do?”
Your vocal coach is a professional about vocalizing and this training may work well for he/she, but not for you.
The vocal coach does not know details about your throat condition unless you tell them how you feel after you exercise and train.
Therefore, you have to explain to your vocal coach that your throat becomes hard and stiff from this training. The coach should change to something less strenuous, to prevent strain or injury to your throat muscles.
Your current training might be not appropriate with your throat, so its best to always be aware of your status and train accordingly.

I’ve listened to a lot of songs in my life, and can conclude that all of the greatest singers have one thing in common- They are really good at listening.
If a person’s listening skill are not good, then they simply cannot be a good singer.
If you can’t catch sound, a melody and/or rhythm properly, it’s difficult to improve your singing.
Also, if you play music, you have to recognize the sound tones, tempo and rhythm, then interpret them to correctly produce the song from your perception through listening.
An essential point of singing is the ability to listen. Singing and listening go hand in hand. A song is made by duplicating sound accurately. When duplicating sounds heard, an individual’s style is added as well whether it be consciously or unconsciously. Listening is a top priority for great singers, but it is also necessary to analyze and assimilate the song too.

Note1:Singing is combined movements the vocal fold (1:open and close 2: extend and contract 3:harden and soften 4:thicken and thin out) using muscles and breathing (move the diaphragm, the internal intercostal muscle, and the external intercostal muscle) to vibrate the vocal fold, making air waves.

Note2:Professional singers always observe first and listen to music well, before singing.

Note3:The singing time divided by listening time should equal less than 1 or 0.6 if possible. That is the ideal vocal lesson time.